Foxconn bids $5.3 billion to take over Japan’s embattled Sharp

iPhone manufacturer may want Sharp's display tech to extract more cash from Apple.

Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles Apple's iPhones, has made a ¥600 billion bid (about £3.6 billion or $5.1 billion) to purchase troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp, according to reports from Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. While the acquisition hasn't yet been approved, a decision to accept or reject the bid is expected before the end of January.

The ¥600 billion bid is the latest in a string of attempts to take over the embattled Japanese company, which received a ¥225 billion (£1.4 billion) bailout from banks last year following what it described as "very severe conditions." In 2012, Foxconn made an offer of $806 million (£569 million) for a 10 percent stake in Sharp, which quickly fell apart. This was followed by Foxconn founder Terry Gou purchasing a minority stake in a Sharp subsidiary for $617 million (£436 million). The company was also in talks to acquire Sharp's LCD business unit in September of last year.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Foxconn may receive pushback from the Japanese government, which doesn't want to cede control of Sharp to a foreign company. The Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, a government-backed investment fund, is said to be making its own bid of ¥300 billion (£1.8 billion). While the INCJ bid would keep Sharp under Japanese control, Foxconn's higher bid and willingness to take on the company's debt could see officials side in its favour.

"We're talking with several companies about the structural improvement of liquid-crystal-display business. We don’t comment on the details of individual talks," Yoshifumi Seki, a Sharp spokesman, told Bloomberg.

Further Reading

While Sharp is largely known for its television sets in the west and smartphones in its home country of Japan, the company also sells LCD panels for a number of other companies for use devices like cameras and smartphones. One of those companies is—you guessed it—Apple.

Given that the display is the most expensive single component in an iPhone, owning Sharp would give Foxconn the option to not only assemble iPhones for Apple, but also to supply their most expensive part. Apple might even be able to save some cash as part of the deal by being able to bulk order from a single supplier.

Despite the benefits, Sharp is still a risky purchase for Foxconn. In the fiscal year ending March 2015, Sharp suffered a net loss of ¥222 billion (£1.34 billion). Its most recent half-year results weren't particularly positive either, posting an operating loss of ¥25.2 billion (£152 million). Sharp also faces a March due date for repaying a total of ¥510 billion (£3 billion) in borrowings.